Choosing Your Powder Coating Equipment

In previous articles, I have talked about selecting a system or process before choosing your powder coating equipment. After you have established your process and have a rough idea of the timing of each step, you can select equipment to meet your production requirements.

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Setting up a powder coating shop involves many variables besides powder or pretreatment. The size of part to be coated, layout of shop to be used, labor, parts per day requirement, staging of racks or parts in process, loading area, and unloading area are all factors that must be addressed when designing a work area.

What&#;s The Largest Item You Will Be Powder Coating?

The first factor to consider when sizing your equipment is the size of the parts you&#;ll be coating. Determine the size of the largest part you will be routinely powder coating and use that as the base size for your equipment. If your typical part is small, instead decide how many you want to coat at one time and how large the rack(s) will be to accommodate your throughput.

Once you have those measurements, you&#;ll need equipment that is appropriately sized for your application. For the powder spray booth, typically you will need 2-3 additional feet around the part so the operator can easily apply powder to the part without walking or spraying outside the booth.

The powder oven (checkout one from Reliant) can usually be smaller than the booth, but you still must account for the size of the rack(s) in the oven. If you are using multiple racks, you will want enough space inside the oven so the racks do not bump against each other and the doors can still be completely closed.

For example: If your rack of parts is four  (4) feet wide, five (5) feet tall, and six (6) feet long, you will want an eight (8) feet wide by ten (10) feet long booth with at least an 8 foot ceiling. This will give you two (2) feet all the way around the part, so the operator does not have to move the rack while powder coating. The additional height above the rack will allow the powder to go around the parts and not get deposited on the ceiling lights. This same rack can go in a six (6) feet high, six (6) feet wide, and eight (8) feet long oven. The smaller oven helps to bake the parts more efficiently.

Shop Workflow and Layout

Exterior dimensions of the equipment need to be known so that you can plan a good shop layout. Make sure you have enough room in your shop for not only the equipment, but adequate turning space for your parts or racks, and staging areas for parts moving into and out of your pretreatment, coating and curing areas.

When laying out your shop, be certain you have enough space to satisfy your local safety code requirements. Code varies from place to place (and I strongly encourage you to make the local code inspector your friend prior to a large equipment purchase) but a good rule of thumb is to make sure all components are at least three (3) feet away from each other and the shop walls or structures. Roof height is also an issue. You want at least three (3) feet clearance above the components and you do not want sprinkler systems (unless rated for 350F) or air hoses running over your oven. Your roof supports can sometimes be closer, but you will need to determine that with your local code authority.

Walkways, emergency escape routes, and staging areas for racks are other factors to consider when planning your shop layout. Be sure and have good access to utilities such as gas and power for the booth and oven. Water should be run to the area where you plan to have pretreatment and cleaning processes. Drains or water capture alternatives are also important; depending on your finishing process, you should plan these well in advance.

How Many Parts Per Day Do You Need To Powder Coat?

Another key factor for equipment planning is production requirements. In a batch system, you are only as efficient as your slowest stage. Typically this stage will be cure time.

Since the average cure time for polyester is metal temperature reaching 400F for 10 minutes, this usually means a 20 minute dwell time for gauges around 18-16 gauge. Quarter inch angle iron can take 30-40 minutes and some castings can take 45-60 minutes to reach the part temperature of 400F for ten minutes. Of course, powders vary in cure cycles as do metals in time it takes to reach their required cure time. I recommend running an oven recorder regularly to set your dwell times to reach optimal cure times.

Figure out your slowest cycle time, I&#;ll assume curing, although it could be metal preparation. A typical cycle time would be 20 minutes. That gives you 24 cycles times in an 8 hour shift, if you run everything at 100% efficiency. For example, if you do muffler tubes and can rack 100 tubes per cycle, your maximum daily production rate will be 2,400 muffler tubes. If you need more production, you can add more ovens till something else becomes your lowest cycle time, or bottleneck. When labor cost starts to increase too much by adding multiple ovens or booths, then you can look at automatic solutions.

Many beginning powder coaters think of automation right away, but I would almost always recommend trying to achieve your production goals with batch systems first. That way you learn the process and what it takes to achieve a good finish. Batch systems also give more flexibility and adjust to different powders, metals, thicknesses, and process better than automated lines. Now if they have to have 10,000 parts a day, automation is probably the way to go.

Selecting The Right Powder Coating Equipment Checklist

Purchasing the correct equipment can be a little overwhelming, but by identifying the key factors, the equipment purchasing decision gets easier.

Preparation: Am I blasting and/or washing? If yes, then you need a blast booth and/or wash booth.

Preheat/Dry: Do I need to preheat my parts due to pretreat drying, process or out gassing? If yes, then decide whether an extra oven is necessary or if you have capacity with your cure oven.

Size Of Parts And Racks: This determines the size of your equipment and necessary workflow requirements.

Available Area In Shop: This determines the amount of equipment you can fit or whether you need additional shop space.

Parts Per Day: Determines the amount of booths and ovens you will need to achieve your current and future production goals.

If sales for your finishing business have been declining, you may need to consider adding a new coating line to bring in new business. An option may be to add an electrocoat system to your current powder line to increase your coating capabilities.

Indicators point to change in coating process

There are many indicators that a coating company can watch for to gauge whether it&#;s time to consider adding a different coating line:

• New coating shops have opened up that compete directly with your company, causing prices to decrease.
• Manufacturers who outsourced large jobs have now installed their own coating lines. Some of these manufacturers have installed larger lines than needed and have solicited outside work, becoming competitors.
• Manufacturers have moved business to other coating companies that can supply one stop for all of their coating needs. Some are sending parts overseas to be coated.

There are other indicators, but they share a similar theme with the ones listed: a loss of business or a reduction in margin. If one or more of these indicators has affected your company to the point of reducing profits, it&#;s time to consider expanding to a different type of coating line. Although the information in this article is about adding an e-coat line to a powder coating shop, it can hold true for any type of coating business.

But adding an e-coat line to a powder shop isn&#;t as easy as installing a system, filling it with paint and running parts. Knowledge is key, and there are four types of e-coat technologies used in today&#;s marketplace on a wide variety of products:

• Anodic epoxy: a low-cure e-coat that provides good weatherability, high gloss and the ability to coat recessed areas. Excellent finishes for castings, engines, and temperature-sensitive substrates and assemblies.
• Anodic acrylic: offers economical, one-coat, interior finishes that exhibit an ultrasmooth appearance with excellent color and gloss control. Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning parts typically are coated with anodic acrylics.
• Cathodic acrylic: combines corrosion resistance with weatherability. Color controllable, have permitted light colors to be used on large truck wheels; also known for their chemical and alkali resistance and are used to provide one-coat finishing for laboratory furniture, and lawn and garden equipment.
• Cathodic epoxy: defines the global benchmark for corrosion resistance, throwpower and operational reliability. Gives user the capability to control film builds over complex part configurations such as automobile bodies, parts and accessories.

Choose e-coats to match customers&#; needs

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Separate Pretreatment and Coating Line. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

The right e-coat is the one that matches your business wants with your customer needs. Choosing the right e-coat is the key to success in this type of venture. Table 1 shows e-coat applications in the industrial marketplace, and Table 2 matches e-coat technologies to products.

There are several steps to determine the right e-coat for your business:

Step 1: Determine the types of e-coat available in your area. The right e-coat is the one that&#;s on the products in demand in your area. Starting up an e-coat line filled with the wrong product wouldn&#;t be good for business. The answers to the questions in Table 3 should provide an overview of the types of e-coat used in your area. Depending on your location, this could be all four types or only one type.

Step 2: Determine the business share for each type of e-coat. The right e-coat for your business is the one that has a big enough market to pay off equipment and put money back into your company. This step will require good information to accurately predict what the market is in your area. You need to find out how many square feet you&#;ll be coating a year and how much it will cost you per square foot. Manufacturers are your best bet for this type of information.

Step 3: Estimate what portion of business your company can capture for each type of e-coat. This one is up to you, but make it an accurate guess. Start with the current market share your company has in existing coatings versus the number of competitors you have. Adjust the number for e-coat to the number of competitors in your market.

Step 4: Choose a supplier. This step is very important. A supplier can be a big help by giving you guidance in picking a system, helping you define markets and even bringing you customers. Start with your current supplier or suppliers. Do they have the type or types of e-coat that are used in your area? If your current suppliers don&#;t provide e-coat, which ones do your competitors use? (Editor&#;s Note: You can always peruse pfonline.com for e-coat suppliers.)

Step 5: Pick an e-coat, pretreatment and waste treatment system for each type of e-coat. The e-coat process is basically the same for the different types of e-coat. The main differences between the types of e-coats are in the pretreatment and the oven used. Three of the most important factors to consider when choosing an e-coat system are space availability, conveyor type and part size:

Space availability. How much floor space is available for your e-coat system? Will a building extension or a new building have to be built to accommodate a system?

Conveyor type. What type of conveyor do you need? Conveyors for e-coat systems fall into two main categories: indexing and straight-through monorail. Indexing moves parts through a system in steps. The parts move from one stage to the next and then stop for a period of time before moving to the next stage. Parts in a straight-through monorail system continuously move through the system. Although an indexing system generally occupies less floor space than a monorail, a monorail can produce more parts than an indexing system.

Part size. The size of the largest part will be used to size the system. The possible system variations are numerous and should be worked through with your supplier.

Step 6: Determine permits required for each type of e-coat. This is an important step that can be overlooked. Permits cost money and, more important, may dedicate equipment that will add cost to the project. It&#;s sometimes best to hire an environmental consultant familiar with local, state and federal laws to guide you through this step.

Step 7: Estimate the capital required for each type of e-coat. The best way to estimate the cost of a system is to have contractors provide you with quotes to build a system. The information from Step 5 will enable you to put together a list of system requirements. Submit the list of requirements to the contractors for quotes. The quotes you receive back will probably be in a wide range. Work with your supplier to ensure the quotes are for what you need.

Step 8: Determine operating costs for the e-coat system. The operating costs of the system will have an effect on the profit of the e-coat line and need to be considered. The best way to gather this information is to have the contractors include the cost of operating the system in their quotes. The contractor will be able to supply energy costs and maintenance costs, but not manpower costs. You will have to determine labor costs.

Step 9: Determine return on investment (ROI) for each type of e-coat. It&#;s time to put all the information gathered to work. For each type of e-coat, determine the total cost to install the system, the cost to operate the system and the estimated revenue. Use this information to determine the ROI for each type of e-coat.

Step 10: Choose the e-coat type with the best economic return for your business. Simply, which e-coat offers the best return for the dollar?

Summary

Several companies have used this process or a similar one over the past couple of years with positive results. These companies installed e-coat lines that increased new business and powder sales. The process relies on good information. Make sure you use the most accurate information available.

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